Modern smartphones are impressive devices. Even the type of smartphone that can be picked up for $100 or less from a supermarket shelf has similar power to a small laptop. By now, just about everyone has a smartphone, so if you are a student, you might want to think about using your device, at least in part, as a smart teaching assistant.
Get to Know Your Voice Assistant
The voice assistant on your phone can be an incredibly useful tool for doing revision and homework. If you’re old enough to remember the giddy high that was 2007 (until the crash), you will remember the debut of the iPhone and the subsequent launch of Siri.
In the early days, voice assistants were pretty naff, microphones weren’t as good, nor were the machine learning algorithms that process the audio and translate it for the device. However, they are now far more refined and even cheaper smartphones can pick up your words much more reliably. With a top range (Samsung Galaxy S10+), the voice assistant picks up the correct words the vast majority of the time.
Get Evernote
Most students today either take their notes digitally or they transcribe them into a digital format. Keeping track of digital files should be much simpler than your paper notes – you can search digital files, after all. However, keeping digital notes organized can be just as difficult as the analog methods.
Evernote is a notes app and one of the best organization apps out there; if you’re downloading organization apps, make sure that you download Evernote for iOS or Android.
Evernote will enable you to create notes using your phone, tablet or laptop and will keep them synchronized with your cloud-based account. That means that as soon as you save a note on one device, it is instantly accessible on all your devices. If you are offline, notes will be uploaded next time you go online.
Search For Your Preferred Subjects
You can enter in just about any subject you like into the search field of your preferred app store and instantly be greeted with hundreds, even thousands of apps to choose from. Many people find that learning through an interactive medium like an app dramatically improves their retention. If you are struggling with a particular subject or concept, there is almost certain to be an app that can help you to learn and revise.
Use Your Timer
Your timer app is one of the most valuable tools that you have for learning and revising. If you try and make yourself revise for too long, you will burn out and your information retention will be terrible. Break your studying up into half an hour chunks, then give yourself 5-10 minutes of rest. Every couple of hours, take a longer break. By sticking to a schedule and optimizing your usage of time, you can massively improve the efficiency of your revision.
By installing the right apps and learning how to utilize the tools on your smartphone, you can greatly improve the productivity of your study time. Most people turn to their phone when they need a calculator, but it can do so much more.
Good article